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Truth And Consequences | ||||||
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Category: Alternate Universe Characters:Harry/Ginny Genres: Angst, Fluff, Romance Warnings: Sexual Situations Rating: R Reviews: 52 Summary: Harry and Ginny spend some time alone the night before Harry leaves on the Horcrux hunt. All actions have conseqences, as they find out. Hitcount: Story Total: 24337; Chapter Total: 4134 Author's Notes: Hey everyone, I know I don't have the best record for updating, but I promise I won't leave ages between updates on this one - I've already got loads written this time! |
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Chapter One: Dangerous Deal With a trembling hand, Ginny sat up and wiped her mouth. It was the fifth day in a row that she’d been sick and she couldn’t keep telling herself that it was just a stomach bug anymore, no matter how much she wanted to. But there were some questions that she just didn’t want to know the answers to. Answers meant reality, and she didn’t want to face up to the reality of it just yet. With a mental shake, Ginny forced herself to push down the feeling of unease and exited the bathroom to head to lessons, deciding it was better to bypass breakfast than risk being sick again. It kept niggling at her all day though, distracting her, eating away inside her until she knew that sooner or later she’d have to accept the facts. The fact that she was pregnant, the fact that she was carrying Harry’s child, and the fact that before long someone would be sure to figure out the truth about her and the secret that she was carrying around inside, and then they‘d all be in danger. She lay awake in bed that night and thought about what she was supposed to do. She wanted so badly to tell Harry and let him hold her in his arms and tell her that it was all going to be okay, that they’d get through it, but she knew that wasn’t possible…Harry was who-knew-where fighting to bring down Tom. Only when he succeeded would everyone have a future again. She thought about what her mother would say when she found out…but how would she tell her? It wasn’t exactly something she could put in a letter…‘Hi, Mum, just to let you know I’m pregnant. Hope you’re well. Love from Ginny.’ But the Carrows were reading all the post so she couldn‘t send a letter anyway. Panic rose in her throat as she realized that she was trapped, that there was no way at all of getting word to her family, not when she was in a school run by Death Eaters. There was no way out for her at all! Her chest tightened and she struggled to breathe as the terror threatened to consume her. Sitting up, she forced herself to take a deep breath and calm down. After several long moments she continued her train of thought. Perhaps it was better for now if her parents didn’t know about the baby. If her family knew then they’d all be at risk, because if Tom found out then… She pushed that unwelcome thought down. She determined that she wouldn’t be responsible for getting Harry and her family killed. But what was she to do? She had a short while before the baby became noticeable, she would find a solution…somehow. Over the course of the next few days, morning sickness continued to plague Ginny as she strove to find an answer to her predicament. She wasn’t able to come up with many but she knew one thing for certain - she had to keep her secret, for Harry’s sake as well as for her own. The one concrete thing she knew was that she would do anything to keep this baby safe, anything at all. As Ginny fell into bed after the detention that she, Neville, and Luna had got for trying to steal Gryffindor’s sword she knew that she needed to do something about her situation. She still didn’t know why Snape had only given them detention with Hagrid instead of throwing them to the Carrows as they’d expected, but she was immensely grateful to him this once. Fear coursed through her veins as she stood in Snape's office with Gryffindor's sword hanging limply at her side and Neville and Luna stood next to her. 'Hand it to me now,' demanded Snape in an omniously low voice. She stood rooted to the spot and all of her Gryffindor courage seemed to vanish into thin air. 'Now!' His voice jolted her and she stepped forward slowly and handed it to him stiffly before retreating quicky to her position between Neville and Luna. He laid the sword carefully on the desk behind him before he turned back to them with a sneer on his face. 'What is the meaning of this then?' He glanced at each of them in turn before his gaze rested on her. 'Well?' No one answered. 'There must be a reason that you decided to break into MY office to try to steal the Sword of Gryffindor - I don't believe it was just on a whim. Did Potter tell you to steal it?' At the mention of Harry, a rush of thoughts jumbled through Ginny's mind as she stared blankly in front of her - making love with Harry on that bittersweet summer night, realising she was pregnant, the undescribable feeling of a child growing inside her. Being caught by Snape surely wasn't going to end well for her, especially once he knew that she was carrying Harry's baby. The baby...Harry would never get to know about it, it would never get the chance to grow up, they would never get the chance to be a family... Tears threatened in her eyes but she blinked them back, preferring to appear strong in the face of defeat, despite what she felt inside. Snape was staring at her curiously when she opened them again. She looked away with hatred mingling with the fear and missed the fleeting flicker of something in his blank black eyes. 'Why did you try to steal the sword?' he asked again. 'It's Harry's,' she replied, 'Dumbledore left it to him.' 'It belongs to the school, it was not Dumbledore's to bequeath,' said Snape quietly. 'None the less, it shall be moved to a new home tomorrow for safe keeping.' 'You bastard,' spat Neville defiantly. Snape raised an eyebrow at him. 'The three of you shall serve detention in the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid tomorrow night at sundown,' he said without his habitual sneer. 'What, no Carrows,' asked Neville with surprise. 'That can be arranged if you wish it,' he said silkily with a small frown in Ginny's direction, 'but I suggest you get yourselves out of here before I change my mind.' Neville looked ready to argue again but Ginny and Luna grabbed his arms and propelled him forward through the door before he could. Her hand slipped down to her stomach and she felt the slight bump there. It surely wouldn’t stay small for long and then everyone would know the truth, everyone would know the secret that she was carrying around, and then there would be many people who would pay for her and Harry’s night together. No, she couldn’t - wouldn’t - allow that to happen. She’d pored over books and thought long and hard about what to do. Her mind was made up now, she would go and see Madam Pomfrey the next day - before it was too late. It was the only way. Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, Ginny pushed open the door to the hospital wing and stepped inside. Somehow it made everything seem that much more real, now that she was about to openly acknowledge that she was pregnant. Saying it out loud would make it so much more real. Madam Pomfrey looked up from the young student with a large bruise on his face who she was tending to. ‘Yes, Miss Weasley?’ she asked. ‘Er, can I talk to you?’ she replied nervously, wringing her hands together anxiously. The nurse nodded and indicated towards her office. Ginny walked slowly over and entered the office; Madam Pomfrey followed her in and closed the door firmly behind her. ‘What can I do for you?’ she asked kindly. Ginny swallowed and opened her mouth but the words wouldn’t come out. She tried again and said quietly, ‘I’m pregnant.’ Madam Pomfrey quickly masked her look of shock, for which Ginny was grateful, although a slight frown appeared on her forehead. ‘Right, and how far along are you?’ ‘Three and a half months,’ replied Ginny. She bit her lip. ‘I’m starting to show. I, I need a Concealment Charm casting,’ she whispered. She held her breath and waited for the nurse to immediately refuse. She didn’t. ‘Am I right in thinking that it’s Mr Potter’s?’ Ginny nodded and met her gaze. ‘Then you should leave the school,’ said Madam Pomfrey bluntly. ‘I can’t,’ said Ginny, shaking her head, ‘there’s no way I can leave the school.’ ‘Why not? You should go home to your parents and let them look after you. Do they even know?’ she asked, raising her eyebrow. ‘No, no one else knows. I can’t tell anyone else. The Carrows are checking all the post so I can’t send a letter home. There’s no way that I can just leave the school,’ said Ginny certainly - she’d spent many hours going over all of this in her head until she’d come to the only conclusion of a Concealment Charm. ‘You really should leave,’ repeated the nurse vehemently, pitying the young girl in front of her. ‘I can’t!’ exclaimed Ginny. ‘There’s no way that Snape or the Carrows will let me just leave without an explanation. He’d find out about the baby and then Harry would be in even more danger, not to mention that my family would be targeted by the Death Eaters because of me!’ There was no need for the nurse to ask who ‘he’ was, and what Ginny said was the truth - there was no way to escape the school and still remain alive. Silence reigned for several moments as both contemplated the situation. It was Madam Pomfrey who finally broke it. ‘If I cast the charm then you would be walking a very, very fine line, Miss Weasley. You realise that if anyone - the Carrows - found out then both you and your baby would be at risk?’ ‘I know,’ whispered Ginny, ‘but I’ve got to keep my secret for Harry’s sake.’ ‘You won’t have to give the Carrows any reason at all to harm you.’ ‘I won’t,’ replied Ginny, even though they both knew that she was targeted anyway because of her family and association with Harry. ‘Okay,’ replied the nurse, raising her wand, ‘I’ll do it.’ ‘Thank you,’ said Ginny after the spell was cast. A loud clatter from outside the door made her jump nervously. ‘I’ll need to see you regularly to check on the baby, but not right now,’ said Madam Pomfrey hurriedly before she opened the office door and took in the scene outside. ‘Get him on a bed quick,’ she ordered, marching forward. Ginny followed her into the hospital wing and winced when she saw Neville and Luna haul a bloodied second year on a bed. Blood poured from a large gash in the side of his head and his right arm was twisted at an unnatural angle. He moaned softly as he lay on the bed. ‘What happened?’ asked Madam Pomfrey. ‘We’re not sure,’ replied Neville, ‘we found him in the empty Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom just now. ‘Okay, thank you for bringing him but you can all leave now.’ Neville looked torn between objecting and leaving. Luna put her hand on his arm and guided him towards the door. Ginny hurried to their side. ‘What were you doing in there, Ginny?’ asked Luna curiously. ‘Nothing,’ she replied quickly, knowing that she was going to be doing a lot of lying in the future. She felt guilty about it, but knew it was for the best. Luckily Neville and Luna had started discussing the Carrows again and didn't notice how guilty she looked. |
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